


Living Like Angels

by tinyaphrodite



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Character, Bisexual Kara Danvers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Lena Luthor, Light Angst, Smut, Tutoring
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-20 16:49:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14898305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyaphrodite/pseuds/tinyaphrodite
Summary: Lena Luthor is a budding first year at university who finds herself struggling in her English class. At her tutoring appointment, she meets the charming Kara Danvers. Dating and prolonged sexual tension ensues.





	1. I'm a Fool For You

It was supposed to be the easiest class. 

Lena knew everything there was to know about quantum mechanics and the physics of refracting light and practical multivariable calculus, but reading entire plays written in hardly intelligible English? Tracing sexist themes written in neverending dialogue? Writing essays on romanticized date rape and twin fetishes? She had always been good at definable answers, where the work led somewhere and that Somewhere was usually in the ballpark of correct. Something about her university's Shakespeare class made her want to scream or fall asleep, all at once. (She had done both of these at multiple times throughout the semester.)

And Lena had done the math--if she didn't crank up her studying, she was going to fail the class. Which was largely unacceptable, given that her brother hadn't broken an unweighted 4.0 throughout his time at university, and Lena wasn't about to shape up to be the dumber Luthor. 

She was used to being on the other side of the tutoring desk, the one with the red pen and the right answers. She was used to being the prepared one. She was used to being the tutor, not the one who needed one.

Lena sat down heavily at the desk. She had reluctantly made a tutoring appointment about a week ago, when she realized that she had failed her first midterm essay and was about to fail her second. Thank God her mother didn't have access to her grades, or she would be somewhere between hell and a dungeon for torture.

Her tutor was late. Lena suppressed a scoff of disapproval and opened up to The Merchant of Venice. Another plot filled with bland pining men and undervalued women. Plus antisemitism. Lena crossed and uncrossed her legs impatiently.

"Sorry I'm late, my last class ran longer than it was supposed to and it was halfway across campus."

Lena looked up and tried not to swallow too hard. The girl had a hand outstretched, was introducing herself, but Lena's ears didn't seem to be working: her eyes were in overload, taking in all of the girl's appearance.

"I'm sorry, what was your name?"

"I'm Kara Danvers, you can call me Kara." 

Finally, Lena's eyes took in what she was seeing and she understood what short circuiting was. Kara was blonde, with cropped curly hair that Lena ached to touch with her fingers. She wore a grey tank top that accentuated her biceps and black jeans with suspender straps hanging off her hips in an easy way. Her eyes were blue and smiling at Lena, who suddenly remembered that Kara's hand was still awkwardly outstretched. She took Kara's hand. It felt strong and capable, and her fingers were rough despite the casual way she used them, drawing them out of Lena's hand and hooking them through her belt loops, then running them through her hair. 

Lena was undeniably wet. "I'm Lena."

"Right. Lena Luthor, my 10 o'clock." Kara didn't seem to flinch at the last name, and Lena was glad for it. "So, you're having trouble with Shakespeare? Dude, I love The Merchant of Venice."

"How can you love The Merchant of Venice?" Lena wrinkled her nose. "It's so sexist. And antisemitic."

Kara laughed, her eyebrows crinkling. Lena made a note to be consistently whiny, just for that lovely knowing laugh, that smile. "That's true. But I think that taking what we can from Shakespeare's inherent sexism and ethnic discrimination is the point. I'm not saying you're wrong, but interpreting themes beyond the obvious problematic messages can be helpful. You said you had an essay due on this play?"

"Yes, I'm supposed to close-read a passage. But I don't understand how I'm supposed to write about anything or anyone I'm interested in, if it's all structurally wrong."

Her tutor leaned in. Lena could smell Kara's cologne, it was woody and dark, unlike the girl herself. Kara seemed so light: eager and invested and excited. Lena bit her lip, trying not to obviously smell her, but it was so hard not to take a deep inhale and swoon a little in Kara's enthusiasm. "What are you interested in, Lena?"

Lena's lips parted, and she ran her tongue along her front teeth. She was interested in a lot of things. Mostly relating to things you could figure out with a protractor and a calculator. She was definitely interested in her tutor, and Kara coughed, realizing the underlying implications of her question. Kara rephrased the inquiry. "What kinds of things in Merchant do you find interesting?"

"I mean, I think that Portia's crossdressing is definitely interesting," Lena said cautiously. 

Kara practically beamed. "That's a start."

They found a passage on Portia that Lena could write her essay on. Lena tried to turn the pages of the textbook without touching Kara's fingers too much, but somehow found that Kara's very existence was turning her on. She accidentally grazed Kara's arm and found that it really was all muscle, and that her fingers were thicker than Lena's, and much warmer. Lena was going to have to go home and change before her next class.

"All right, so you annotate this passage and we'll meet up next week to discuss an outline." Kara rubbed at the back of her head, the shaved part that Lena wanted so badly to touch.

Lena squeaked, "Sounds good."

"Here's your notebook back," Kara pushed it across the desk. "I'll see you soon, Lena." Lena swore she saw Kara wink before turning to leave the library. "Make sure to check your notes when you can."

She waited as long as she could after Kara left, and then quickly flipped the notebook to the page that they had taken notes together. At the bottom, there was small note in crunchy small handwriting, written with a strong hand.

"I saw you staring. 555-555-5555 -K"

Lena had to go back to her single dorm room as soon as possible.

 

Lena didn't like making the first move. Technically, she hadn't. Writing her number had been the first move, and Kara had made it. But Lena felt shy about texting Kara. So she did what she needed to do in her dorm, then busied herself with reorganizing her makeup and putting her clothes in order by style, then by color, until she couldn't stand it anymore.

L: hi it's lena 

She got an immediate response.

K: Hey.

Somewhat disappointing. Lena sighed and tied her hair up into a low bun. She didn't even know why she even tried. No one she ever liked seemed to really pay attention to her and--

K: I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me this weekend.

A double-texter. And direct. She smiled at her phone foolishly. There was no need to overreact, Kara was definitely interested. Lena was blushing harder than she knew was possible. 

L: i don't know anything about you. what if you're an axe murderer

K: I promise Im not an axe murderer. And getting to know me is what a date is for. Ill be a gentleman.

L: i'm free on saturday, after four

K: Then Ill pick you up at 5.

L: what should i wear

K: Anything.

K: Something cute.

K: Like the little shorts you wore today.

L: asdkjflsdjfl

Lena wasn't used to someone bold and someone flirty like Kara was. And Kara seemed effortless. Saturday definitely would be fun. She picked up her planner and wrote in the Saturday box, "Date Night with Kara."


	2. Bad Girls Underneath Like That

She still didn't know what to wear. Kara was going to be pulling up to the front of her dorm in twenty minutes and Lena didn't know what she was going to wear. Would they be going out to a party? Or was it going to be a chill date, like to the movies? Lena wished she had the courage to ask, but she also liked the fact that they hadn't discussed it. It was a surprise. And Kara was driving, after all, so she had to have a plan.

Finally she settled on something that she figured Kara would like. That Lena herself felt good in.

“Welcome to the Danvers Express.” A yell came from inside a green Subaru. 

Cheesy, Lena thought. But cute. She hurried to the curb, trying not to trip over her shoes. It was hard, given that they were an inch higher than her usual heel.

“Hopping aboard,” Lena greeted her date, and immediately wanted to kick herself for the dorky comment. Luckily, Kara didn’t seem to care, and only grinned and made a three-point turn.

Kara announced, “We’re going to my favorite restaurant. It’s an amazing burger place. Upscale, too.”

Lena secretly was glad that Kara had explained what they were doing, given that she was pretty sure Kara was at least a year or two older than her and riding in an almost-stranger’s car seemed a little more questionable in the moment. Kara seemed to sense her discomfort, rolling down the windows and casually leaning her elbow out the window while flashing Lena a charming smile that nearly sent her into cardiac arrest. 

“It’s not far from here,” Kara assured her.

Lena nodded and hummed along with the pop music Kara had on the radio. She was almost certain that Kara was the kind of person that hated Top 40 music and had only put it on because it was something that Lena could recognize, but she appreciated the gesture. Lena imagined that Kara liked one of the extremes, either heavy metal or really soft indie music.

She checked out her date out of the corner of her eye. Kara had tied her hair up with a navy bandana, framing her strong features with wisps of blonde. It was a good move, Lena thought, against her loose red flannel and tight dark jeans with big stomping black boots. She noted the way that Kara’s neck moved as she talked and swallowed, the way that her position leaning out of the window made her hair even more wild than usual, only barely contained by the bandana. Perhaps it made Lena feel a little overdressed, but Kara did say it was an upscale place.

And it was. Lena was surprised at the seeming elegance of the “burger place” that Kara had spoke of. “I didn’t pick you out for this kind of class,” Lena said. And then realized how that sounded. “Not that you aren’t classy, it’s just…”

Kara laughed easily, pulling out a chair for Lena. “No, I usually don’t eat at places like this. I love shit like Taco Bell and McDonald’s. But it’s still my favorite. And I like to treat my dates.”

Her dates. Somehow, Lena had become determined that this girl wouldn’t be going on a variety of dates after this one, that Lena would be the only one Kara would be taking on dates from now on. It was a silly obstinance, and one that she couldn’t sustain if she kept making a dork of herself.

They ordered and started talking, so easily that Lena even forgot about the burgers or her own inability to hold a conversation until they were slid onto the table in front of her. 

“So, wait. What grade are you in?” Lena asked. She really should have found this out earlier.

“I’m a sophomore. Twenty years old. But I’m not that much older than you.” Kara beamed that wide grin at her, and Lena watched as the blonde took her first bite of burger. Meat juice and spicy mayo dripped onto her fingers, and Kara moaned softly. “It’s so good,” Kara said, and licked her fingers. Lena tried not to watch, but found herself staring at her swirling pink tongue around those fingers before Kara caught her gaze, suppressing a smirk.

Lena coughed, and tried to change the subject. The two ended up discussing everything from Lena’s favorite music, Ariana Grande, to Kara’s, Ingrid Michaelson. Lena was shy, not super talkative, but Kara seemed to notice and carried the conversation, talking about her own friends and family until Lena got more comfortable.

“So, I still haven’t heard very much about you. Want to come back to my place and we can talk more?” Kara’s tone was light, but Lena noticed that she was eager. Genuinely eager. She liked Lena, and it made the brunette swell up a little.

“Yeah, sure,” Lena said, trying to contain her giddiness, but miserably failing as she cracked a huge smile.

 

Kara’s shoulders, it turned out, really were amazing. And her arms were even better. 

They had been sitting on the couch in Kara’s apartment watching TV for a couple of hours as her roommates filtered in and out, making small comments and introducing themselves to Lena. Kara had taken off her flannel, revealing a white tank top underneath that looked great on her. They weren’t sitting too close, but Kara’s arm laid across the back of the couch and Lena found every opportunity to sneak a look at her biceps, to imagine how those fingers must--

“So I’ve told you about my sister Alex. And you’ve met my roommates Winn and James.” Kara chewed at her thumb. “You know about me…”

“And you want to know something about me,” Lena guessed.

Kara blew a stray curl out of her face. “Isn’t that what dates are for?”

Lena huffed. “I suppose so…” she conceded. “I’m not close to either my brother or my mother. For obvious reasons.” She paused to study Kara’s face. She found nothing there, thankfully, except patient understanding. “They were never really affectionate even when I was little. I worked on a lot of projects with Lex. He needed someone who was willing to go through the smaller steps. Like the ones where he had some greater motive and I was so desperate to be a part of something and I knew how to crunch the numbers when he didn’t have the time to. I didn’t know what those motives were until a lot later.”

“That must have been hard,” Kara murmured. She reached out and rubbed Lena’s hand, sending goosebumps up her arm and shivers all down her body.

Lena was surprised at her compassion. She was mostly surprised at herself, for simply opening up to another person. Lena had had plans to change her last name, as soon as she turned eighteen. But for whatever reason, four months later, she still hadn’t. She was used to cringing when she introduced herself and others recoiling. But Kara seemed adamant not to let that happen--adamant that Lena’s family was not representative of the girl herself.

“I guess. But other than all that shit, I like...I don’t know, reading the news? I do schoolwork most of the time. I have a single dorm room, which is nice and it means I do a lot of Netflix marathons while I work on taking online classes. I’m trying to graduate early.”

Kara nodded slowly. Lena could practically see the gears turning, and noticed when Kara reached the accurate conclusion that Lena didn’t have many, if any, friends. Thankfully, she didn’t comment on it. “I’m on the university’s newspaper. It’s pretty progressive, you should check it out.”

“I will.” And Lena meant it. She wanted to hear Kara’s voice in her words. She wanted to see what kind of ideas and thoughts this beautiful girl had to offer the world.

“So, there’s a party tonight,” Kara said, cautiously changing the subject. “Do you want to go?”

Lena did. She had noticed Kara’s straying looks at her backside when Lena got up to say hi to her roommates, and hoped that a little bit of alcohol might lead to something. She pouted innocently at Kara. “Do you think this shirt is alright to go out in?”

She watched Kara’s face as Lena strategically tugged on her shirt hem, pulling the collar down a little, revealing a flash of black lingerie. Kara’s throat was beautiful when she swallowed. “I think it’s perfect.” Kara’s mouth was still parted, revealing a little bit of that pink tongue.

Lena arched her back, stretching. Kara didn’t seem to be looking when Lena’s soft stomach became exposed by her needless stretching, but Lena felt her tense and tried not to feel too pleased about it. 

“I was really worried about leaving my number in your notebook,” Kara confessed. It was a nice color on her, modesty. She usually seemed put together, but Lena noted how Kara chewed at her lip and scratched her neck embarrassedly and realized that her date was almost as nervous as she was.

“Actually, I was surprised myself that I got the nerve to text you. I usually don’t date much. I’ve never even been to a real college party.” The words dropped from her lips before Lena could stop them from humiliating her.

Kara didn’t look surprised. “Why not?”

“Studying, mostly,” Lena bit on her tongue lightly. “There aren’t very many people that I know here, or really like, or spend time with.”

The blonde grinned, but it wasn’t judgemental, only warm. Lena felt like she was floating as Kara handed her an empty shot glass. “Can I change that for you?”

 

It was throbbing. And loud. A couple of carefully measured standard drinks in, Lena didn’t feel quite stable.

They were playing a song that had too much bass and too much rap, and Kara was leading her through the crowd. The two of them found a pocket of space and it was clear that Kara wanted to dance.

She led a tipsy Lena into some kind of foolish swinging. “I don’t know how to do this,” Lena laughed breathlessly.

Kara gave her an amused look that said she already knew, but didn’t really care. Her hands were all over Lena’s back, pressing her in against a crushing ocean of drunk strangers. Lena felt the curve of Kara’s stomach and tried not to groan out loud at how much she wanted to touch it softly, kiss it.

“Thank you for taking me out,” Lena said.

Kara shook her head, smiling. “You’ve already thanked me three times. Besides, I don’t know when the next time I’ll take you out is, I think you’re a little too drunk.”

It was true. Lena was seeing everything in stop-and-go motion, her shoes seemed so tall against the beer-splattered floor at one moment and in the next, all she could see was Kara’s face, looking at her intensely.

“I think I need to sit down,” Lena shouted, and Kara nodded, leading her through the pulsing crowd to a wall, where Lena tried to take a breath.

Even when Lena couldn’t stop the world from whirling a little too fast, she was drawn to this immeasurably pretty girl at her side. She reached out and grasped Kara’s hand. To her pleasure, Kara squeezed back.

 

“I definitely drank too much,” Lena said. They were back in Kara’s apartment after walking back what felt like miles in Lena’s impractical heels.

Kara chuckled, low in her throat. She wasn’t completely steady, but she was in better shape than Lena. “You’re so fucking cute.”

Cute wasn’t a great adjective for what Lena was dying for. “So, how does this work?”

“What do you mean?”

“Dinner, then partying, how is this going to close?”

“Close?” Kara practically growled, looking over at Kara on the couch where they had sat after coming in. She nudged her knee in between Lena’s legs and climbed on top of her. “I don’t think that this night is closing any time soon.” Her breath was hot on Lena’s lips and Lena wanted so badly to kiss her.

“Cheesy,” Lena mumbled, and then gasped as Kara’s knee unexpectedly ground into her. Taking advantage of Lena’s surprise, Kara’s lips closed on Lena’s.

She tasted like cinnamon, likely from all the shitty Fireball that Kara had downed. Her lips were smaller than Lena’s but softer. Lena felt herself become dizzier as Kara ran her tongue along Lena’s teeth. A loud moan came from Lena’s mouth, and rather than making her typical amused face at Lena, Kara swallowed the noise and kissed her with more desperation. She seemed even more turned on, in fact.

Lena’s hands clawed at Kara’s back as the blonde pushed her farther back into the couch. She regretted wearing shorts now; it made things slower with the snap and the zipper. Kara ran her fingers through Lena’s hair, pulling slightly and causing Lena to gasp sharply. She ached for Kara’s touch on her breasts, cupping the back of her neck, on her hips, between her--

There suddenly were loud sounds from outside the apartment door. Familiar voices. Lena was still spinning when Kara growled, low in her throat. “Get up.”

Lena felt weak as Kara pushed her towards a bedroom door. Kara slammed the door roughly behind them and dragged Lena to the bed. She pulled the brunette on top of her and tugged at Lena’s shirt. “Off.”

It was said in a commanding way, but Lena met Kara’s eyes and saw the question there. Kara’s hands hovered at the hem, shaking slightly and for all of her sharpness, Lena realized that Kara wasn’t as drunk as she seemed. Lena wasn’t, either. They were both nervous.

Lena met Kara’s blue eyes as she pulled off her top. Kara gasped slightly as Lena’s black lingerie was exposed: a lacy bra over soft breasts. She suddenly flipped their position so Lena was lying breathless underneath her, and positioned her thigh between Lena’s legs. Kara looked down at Lena, biting her lip. There were wisps of blonde curls falling into her eyes. “Do you want me to…”

“Please,” Lena whispered. She wriggled out of her shorts so that Kara’s thigh was grinding against her black panties, knowing full well that Kara could feel the wetness that had soaked through them. Kara moved slowly against Lena at first, trying to get the friction right. 

“A little further down,” Lena breathed heavily. “Yeah, right there.”

Kara made eye contact with Lena as she ground against her core. Lena arched her back, feeling her orgasm growing and moaning much too loudly when Kara picked up the pace. She pulled at Kara’s hair, freeing it from the bandana and tearing her fingers across her scalp, along the sides of her strong features. The girl was maintaining eye contact with Lena through all of it, sighing low in her throat every time that Lena became breathy and lost track of how fast Kara was going, how Kara’s thigh became more and more slippery against her, how everything felt so good, building up in her lower stomach.

Kara watched as Lena came, loudly during and trembling after. “I’m tired,” Lena said. She felt weak and yet heavy, sinking into the mattress.

The blonde smiled, soft. “It’s late.” She met Lena’s lips with her own. Fireball definitely tasted good, even bordering on heavenly, Lena decided. It was sweet even if it was unnecessarily full of cinnamon. 

Lena fell asleep wondering what other parts of Kara tasted like, and if she should have found out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my girlfriend made fun of me for making this smutty in the second chapter but...i promise that this is a plot point


	3. Good Conversation Got Me Holding My Breath

It had been a week since their hookup, and although Lena had sent Kara a few hopeful and surprisingly brave texts, she hadn’t been able to get much out of her.

L: hey did you wanna get lunch sometime

K: Cant today, I have a meeting.

L: i heard there’s a party this weekend

K: Yeah, its one of the best of the year.

L: this essay sucks

K: :(

Eventually, Lena came to terms with the fact that what had happened between them was a one-time thing. Even though she couldn’t shake the feeling that their date had been more than just sex. If grinding even counted as sex. She wasn’t really sure where the definition stood.

She had another tutoring appointment with Kara and she wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. How did one talk to a hookup that clearly wasn’t interested in her anymore? Was she just supposed to pretend that everything was normal? That it didn’t happen? That she didn’t think about it every night when she was taking care of herself?

Lena walked to the library as slowly as possible without being late. She hadn’t bothered to get all dressed up for Kara. Is what she told herself, but she knew that she was wearing her favorite rose gold highlighter not only all over her cheekbones but also her collarbones exposed by a new off-the-shoulder black crop top.

Kara was already sitting there. Her hair was styled today--Lena hadn’t seen it like that before, all crunchy curls and neat sides. She was wearing a grey crew neck and athletic shorts and Lena tried not to relish the opportunity to check out her calves.

They were, of course, great.

Lena tapped the table as she sat down. Her tutor was writing something down in a spiral notebook and didn’t look up as Kara said, “Hello, stranger.”

The greeting made it sound like she belonged in an old Western, but somehow came off casual. Dorky, but relaxed. That would describe her. Not that Lena had thought about the quintessential words to describe Kara Danvers. Lena gulped and gripped her pencil tighter. “Hi.”

“So, did you come up with a thesis?” Kara finally put her pen down and settled back in her chair to look at the brunette. Lena felt her mouth open a little bit as she met the steady gaze of her tutor. Kara had done her eyebrows today, they were filled in and stronger than usual, making her eyes more serious. Her jaw seemed tense, but then again, Lena had also been clenching and unclenching her fingers since she had sat down.

Lena pulled out a heavily annotated paper, with four possible theses numbered and circled at the bottom. “I did.”

“Of course you did.” Kara granted Lena a small smile and Lena felt herself blush just a little bit.

 

“Okay, so this is the hardest part but I think you should try writing a rough draft for next week,” Kara said. She had kept everything in their meeting very professional, and in fact had only looked at Lena when she needed to explain something. Lena ached for her easy grins, for eye contact given liberally.

Lena bit her lip. “I don’t know. I might need help, I’m not very good with words.” And she knew that Kara Danvers was very, very good with words. Much better than Lena. She had read Kara’s school newspaper articles online and was blown away by not only the radical content of Kara’s articles, but also the blunt style that she used to word her opinions. “I might need your help.”

“That’s what the tutoring is for.”

“Just tutoring?” The words slipped out before Lena could clamp them back.

She was whining again, and Kara knew it. The blonde sighed. “Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk.”

 

They settled down in Kara’s Subaru, but Kara didn’t seem like she was going to drive anywhere. Lena fiddled with her hands, pretending that she was cleaning her fingernails. She knew they were clean.

“I feel horrible,” Kara whispered. Lena was surprised by her softness. The blonde sat facing forward and not turning to look at Lena in the passenger seat. Again, Lena felt some kind of awe in the presence of Kara’s humble honesty. She had recognized that Kara put up a bold front, was very attracted to Kara’s boldness, but the glimpses of softness underneath meant something special in themselves.

“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Kara’s head turned and she finally made eye contact with Lena, sustained eye contact, for the first time that day. “I mean, I basically asked you out, got you super drunk, fucked you and then left you on the hook for a week. I would say that that’s not great.”

Lena winced. “When you put it like that…”

“I really meant it when I said I would be a gentleman,” Kara squeezed her eyes shut. “I really like you, Lena. I just wanted to show you a part of the college you haven’t seen yet. And then I got ahead of myself--”

“Hey, it wasn’t like I wasn’t down for it. I really, really was. All of it, dinner and the party and the, the sex.” Lena looked at her hands and resisted the impulse to rub at her eyes, which were layered with eyeshadow. “I had a great time with you, Kara. Truly. I just was so confused about why you weren’t really responding to my texts and I thought...I thought maybe because I didn’t reciprocate when we were in bed...you were put off or maybe you weren’t interested anymore.” Kara opened her mouth to speak, but Lena kept talking. “And it’s just that I haven’t been with someone like that...before. And I wasn’t sure, I wasn’t sure how to, you know, start, and I feel really bad because I know I want to, I just feel like it was a misrepresentation of me. And what I want. Or what I’m like. And I’m sorry.”

Kara left her mouth open a little longer and then cleared her throat. “Well, now that I know that that was your first time, it doesn’t make me feel that much better about fucking. But Rao no, it wasn’t that. I mean,” the girl blushed, “I’m sometimes not in the mood even, for reciprocation. So it wasn’t a big deal, that’s not why I didn’t text you back. I actually wanted to text you, super badly. I just felt ashamed. And really, really mad at myself. I mean, the first date and I can’t control myself. You deserve better than a grind-and-go.”

Lena shrugged. “It was pretty good to me.” Definitely more than pretty good.

“But I could have shown you better.” Lena very much wanted to linger on that comment further, but Kara was agitated, so agitated that Lena was pretty sure she wasn’t taking in the conversation fully. Her face was scrunched up, and for the first time, Lena noticed a small scar on her eyebrow. Kara raked a hand through her curls, completely messing up the gel in her hair and throwing the careful styling into spiky chaos.

Lena grasped Kara’s arm, trying to ground her. “Look, I really like you too.” It was hard to say that, even though Kara had already confessed to substantial feelings first. Lena was never the type to let herself be open, but somehow Kara opened her up so easily that it almost felt comfortable. “But it isn’t worth being all worked up over just because we had sex on the first date--especially because I enjoyed it. I just want to see you again, if not as...whatever, then as friends.” Whatever. As if Lena wasn’t dying to kiss Kara again. As if she could hang out with Kara as friends without aching or swooning or forgetting to breathe.

Kara abandoned her hair wrecking, leaving a hand paused midair and stared at Lena. “Of course I want to be friends.” She paused. “Or, you know, we could keep going out.”

Face splitting into a beaming smile, Lena’s breath rushed out in a relieved exhale. “Please. I would really like that.”

“Yeah?” Lena could have sworn that Kara’s smile had the wattage to warm the sun. And she looked like the sun, with blonde rays sticking out all over her head. Lena resisted the urge to laugh. “Okay, cool. Let’s take a trip to the beach this weekend.” Lena noted to herself that Kara seemed exactly the person to love the beach more than any other setting. “Actually, right now I have to head across town to a meeting with the local newspaper.”

“The one run by CatCo?” Lena was impressed. CatCo’s newspaper was renowned around the world. “Maybe you want to run home and clean up first.”

“Why? I have a change of clothes in my car.” 

“It’s not that,” Lena giggled and reached over to tousle Kara’s hair. “You should look in a mirror.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> super short, but much more to come soon! sorry abt the light angst


	4. Put It All Together Baby

Lena was exactly right; Kara was in her element at the beach. She had driven them both in her green Subaru, who Lena found out Kara named Krypto.

The conversation was easy and light. They talked about classes and professors and then future plans--Kara wanted to travel to more places and two dogs and a steady job in journalism. Lena wanted to make something different in the world, but that felt pretentious, so she told Kara that she wanted to have a studio apartment and to always be taking classes, to always be learning something or another.

They arrived at the beach before noon but neither of them were hungry so they decided to lie on the beach until they were. Lena stripped to her bikini to apply sunscreen and watched as Kara went straight into the water, clad only in her peach-colored one-piece and a pair of sunglasses.

Kara seemed determined to keep things chaste. Unfortunately, she really looked excellent in the waves, slicking her hair back with the saltwater, droplets clinging to her fingertips and the sides of her thighs. Lena sighed and decided to join her down in the water. She was going to get wet either way.

Even though Kara had already seen Lena this exposed before, Lena definitely felt self-conscious. They waded into the water until Lena could barely touch the bottom with her toes. “Uh, Kara?”

The blonde turned. She looked amazing, hair clinging to her scalp, sunglasses held in her mouth with a pink tongue. “Yes?”

“Now would probably be a good time to tell you that I don’t know how to swim.”

Kara narrowed her eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” Lena looked out into the water. “And there’s kind of a big wave coming and it’s going to knock me off my feet and--”

Letting out a growl of frustration, Kara swam towards Lena and lifted her into her arms. Lena hardly had time to gasp before the wave was upon them, filling Lena’s mouth with seawater and sending both of them tumbling.

The wave passed and Lena found herself clinging to Kara’s neck. Kara spluttered, “You’re such an idiot.” She was for sure irritated, but carried Lena back to the sand anyway, despite Lena’s protestations that she could walk back to their towels perfectly well on her own, thank you very much. “I can’t believe you waded out into the ocean until you could barely stand up and then nearly died.”

Lena’s voice was small. “I wanted to be with you.”

Kara let out a noise of exasperation, but she leaned over and kissed Lena on the cheek anyway. “It was stupid and next time just tell me you don’t know how to swim before it’s necessary for your survival.”

Lena resisted the impulse to reach up and touch the spot on her cheek that Kara had kissed with her salty lips. Instead, she laid back on her elbows, watching Kara catch her breath. Kara’s stomach heaved with the previous effort of carrying Lena back to the sand. The girl was still drenched, water running down her arms and legs and dripping off of her hair. Lena had never seen anyone quite as gorgeous.

“Still sure you’re not up for anything more than a kiss?” Lena was only half-joking.

Kara leaned down for an answer and gave her other cheek a kiss. “I’m sure.”

 

Ice cream, they both agreed, was always better on the beach. Lena watched as Kara licked strong strokes across her cone of Rocky Road and tried not to get distracted by the sticky sweet dripping down the blonde’s fingers.

Those fingers.

They had already ordered and eaten hot dogs, during which Lena discovered that Kara Danvers was a fanatic for loaded up sauces to the point of smothering the meat. And somehow, Kara looked adorable with mustard on the sides of her mouth and ketchup on her lip. With her, Lena found that they were always eating something, and she didn’t mind a bit. 

“Do you want to drive back and we can just hang out? I kind of have an essay due tonight that I need to work on, but you’re welcome to just chill with me,” Kara said in a hesitant voice, but she reached out and touched Lena’s hand to reassure her that it wasn’t just an obligatory invite.

Lena nodded. “Yeah, I don’t really have anything going on tomorrow so that sounds good.”

Kara had just turned onto the freeway going back when Lena remembered something. “You never told me how your meeting with CatCo went! How was it?”

“It was so great. Cat was...something else.” The blonde blushed. “I think I might even get a part-time job there, but for now I have an amazing piece going about their media coverage and how CatCo covers the stories that other outlets prefers to just shove under the rug.”

“You met with Cat Grant? How?” Lena was shocked. “My computer science professor was trying to schedule an interview with her about CatCo’s encoding processors and she was booked out for months. You have to be big to get her on such a short notice.”

Kara looked embarrassed. “I sort of...write under a pseudonym.”

“What, like Dr. Seuss?”

The blonde took off her glasses and handed them to Lena. “Will you clean these on your shirt a second?” She looked nervous. “Well anyway, it’s something like that.”

Now Lena really was curious. “Am I ever going to find out what it is?”

“Maybe one day.” The blonde flashed her a smirk and ran her hands through Lena’s hair, pulling slightly. Lena tried not to gasp as her head jerked back a little bit. Kara took her glasses from Lena but kept her eyes on the road as she slid them onto her face. “If you’re good.”

 

They entered the apartment to the sight of Kara’s three roommates kicking back with beers on the couch, Catan on the table.

Winn whistled. “Have an exciting day at the beach?” His eyes flicked to Lena, who stood still, uncertain of the right move.

For some reason, Kara turned slightly pink. She tugged at Lena’s arm. “My room is up the stairs, second door on the right. Head up and I’ll be there with snacks in a minute.”

As she went up the stairs, she heard someone say, “Looks like you’ve already got a snack, Kara.”

Lena paused. She knew she shouldn’t be listening, but the comment rubbed her the wrong way. The brunette was all for letting Kara know that she was something to look at, but the voice sounded male and Lena definitely wasn’t for viewing from that particular audience.

Kara’s voice was gruff. “Shut up, James.”

“C’mon, her hair was definitely post-sex hair. Getting funky on the beach, huh?” Winn again.

“We did not.” Kara’s voice was low, lower than Lena had ever heard it before.

“So you’re telling me that nothing happened on the beach,” James’ voice said sarcastically.

Kara’s voice grew louder. “Her hair might have gotten messed up but nothing happened, God!”

“All right, all right, I’m sorry. We’re sorry.” Winn actually did sound somewhat apologetic. “It’s just…”

A female voice chimed in. “It’s just that you have so much going on already and we’re worried because you’ve seen her so much lately. And we don’t even know her.”

“Alex.” So it was Kara’s sister that was the female voice. “We’ve been on two dates. I don’t have to introduce you to her yet.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt like you did with Lucy.”

A long pause followed. “I have to go upstairs now.” Kara’s voice was flat.

Lena hurried into Kara’s room as she heard Kara starting up the stairs. The blonde entered her bedroom biting her tongue in irritation. “I assume you heard all of that.”

The brunette braced her teeth. “I didn’t mean to, it’s just that--”

“The walls are thin, don’t worry about it.” Kara took Lena’s hand and guided her to lie down next to her on the grey duvet. “It’s...a lot to unpack.”

Lena started, “Oh, we don’t have to talk about it, I’m sorry.”

Kara shook her head. “The thing is that I really like you and I figure that I might as well.” 

Lena watched as Kara fiddled with her hands. “Lucy was my ex. And James’ ex before that. I thought we really had something, Cat kind of set us up and she sort of mentored both Lucy and me, but Lucy ended up going and working for her father instead. I was pretty wrecked for a couple of months. Anyway, now my sister and James and Winn are overprotective of me. Especially since they know we’ve already slept together.”

It indeed was a lot to unpack. Lena had a lot of questions to ask about her relationship with Cat but now wasn’t really the time to push the subject.

“I mean, I’m sorry about Lucy. Not super sorry because I like you a lot, but sorry that she hurt you.” Lena wasn’t very good at this. “I just don’t want your friends to think I’m some kind of slut or fucktoy because I want more than that. I like you, not just…”

Kara nodded. “I will talk to them about that. They should know that I am serious about you, too. They just, they’re…”

“Worried about you. They care.” Lena put it simply.

“Yeah.” Kara moved to get off the bed. “Let’s watch a movie.”

 

“All done,” Kara said.

Lena struggled to open her eyes. “With what?”

The blonde chuckled. “My essay, silly.”

“Right, the…” Lena yawned widely. “The essay. What time is it?”

Kara rolled over to grab her phone. “One AM. Shit. I should have driven you home hours ago but I was writing and you were sleeping.”

Lena very much wanted to stay under the grey duvet, next to a beautiful blonde who looked very cute with askew glasses and bedhead. “Do I have to go?” she whined. In these instances, she really was only half-kidding.

Kara gave her a kiss, one that softened both of their lips and left them breathless. Lena tried not to moan at how eager Kara’s lips and tongue were. How easily they opened Lena’s mouth. They broke apart after several minutes with hands in unexpected places and Lena quite wet.

“I didn’t mean for it to get that heated,” Kara murmured, her forehead resting against Lena’s. Lena started to make a noise of protest, ducking her head to kiss her again, but Kara pushed her away, saying, “I think I had better take you home tonight if I want to stay the proper gentleman.”

Lena sighed, but as she gathered her things she noticed Kara lick her lips, as if she were trying to taste all of Lena she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you love fluff, you're welcome


	5. Lead to Better Days

Lena had made it a habit of hanging out with Kara on the weekends until it inevitably got late and Kara insisted that she drive Lena home, even though Lena made it explicit that she could control herself if they shared a bed.

“It’s not you I don’t trust,” Kara said. “I consider you more than a fuck buddy and I’m going to prove it.”

Sometimes Kara would have an article or something or other to work on for Monday and Lena would wander downstairs to grab a snack. She was still feeling pretty awkward around Kara’s roommates, especially after the frankly objectifying comments before, but recently they had been fairly welcoming to her. Lena had even had a couple of conversations with Winn about their favorite programming professors, but she was still wary of him and the two others.

But Kara insisted that they were good people. “I promise, they’re not out to get you. They’re just...a lot. And to them, I’m practically a younger sister. Not just to Alex, but I’ve known James and Winn for practically ever.”

Lena couldn’t even imagine having people like that. People who knew you, would protect you at the risk of being rude, who really had been around and planned on sticking around. It must feel nice, she thought. Warm and almost sickly sweet. Easy to get drunk in. She decided that while Kara definitely seemed happy with her band of friends, it did leave her vulnerable. James and her had even shared an ex. That couldn’t have been particularly fun.

But then again, what was Lena even doing with Kara? She was coming over to her apartment on Saturday and Sunday every week, and usually an afternoon or two in the school week when she felt smothered in her single dorm room. Plus the weekly tutoring session to work on that damn Shakespeare essay. Lena was growing attached and she knew it. Most of the time that they spent hanging out wasn’t mindblowing: just doing homework, television on, and prolonged breaks with makeout sessions. But that didn’t make their time together less valuable, just more casual. And Lena enjoyed every second.

Kara had the best humor. She was witty and surprisingly dry for such a cheery-looking person. More often than not, she dressed in tank tops and boxer shorts as she typed furiously on her laptop or rolled over on her grey duvet with her phone in hand to show Lena something funny online. They were growing comfortable with each other. And as much as Lena loved Kara’s physique--and God, she loved it--she found herself drawn more and more to Kara, herself.

The cutting punchlines rather than the cut of her jawline. Smooth goofy dance moves rather than the smoothness of her skin above the waistband of her shorts. Soft gestures and words on the car ride home at midnight rather than softer parts that Lena had yet to explore with trembling fingertips.

It was jarring then, when James commented on the volume of Kara’s music upstairs. The blonde was blasting R&B so loudly that they could clearly hear all of the lyrics from downstairs in the kitchen, where Lena was grabbing some Ruffles and fatty dip to munch on. 

“You know, she used to be even louder than that when she was dating Lucy,” James smirked.

Lena coughed. She must not have heard him correctly. “What?”

Winn leaned over from what he was doing on his laptop. “James, leave the girl alone.”

“Okay, okay,” James held up his hands. “You’re right. It wasn’t just Kara. They both together were louder than that.” He stressed the word “together” as he dipped out of the kitchen.

Winn bit his lip, watching Lena’s reaction. She tried to control her facial expression, struggling and failing to keep it neutral as she processed what James had said. It was one thing to butt into her and Kara’s personal life in the bedroom and quite another to fling an ex in the very private mix. Lena felt her stomach tighten as she realized that not only did James imply that Kara and Lucy regularly fucked, but they did so pretty enthusiastically. Kara fucked Lucy enthusiastically.

Not with this stupid waiting. Not with excuses.

“Is that true?” Lena asked Winn. 

He ducked his head in response. Lena felt herself become more and more enraged, at James, at Kara, at herself. “He’s not usually like this,” Winn said.

“Is that right,” Lena growled. She took the stairs two at a time, opening the door to Kara’s room abruptly. Without a word, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door again.

“Lena?” Kara got up off of her bed, where she had been typing something or other for a class. “Lena, where are you going?”

She followed Lena downstairs, where Lena quickly grabbed her coat and made to go out the front door. “Lena, what’s wrong?” She grabbed Lena by the shoulder to spin her around, but Lena involuntarily flinched away at Kara’s touch. “Lena?”

“Don’t touch me,” Lena snapped, and Kara let her go.

Lena wasn’t usually the storming type, but she couldn’t help but slam the front door shut on the way out.

 

These days, Lena had been going over to Kara’s apartment every time she felt mildly upset, or stressed, or lonely. But before she had met the blonde, Lena used to curl up with her favorite book series when it was a hard day.

Trashy YA novels. By her favorite author, S. G. The books were comfort -- she was used to the ups and downs of the fantasy, the palace politics, and most importantly the lesbian romance. 

Kara had been sending her a flood of texts ever since she left, but Lena hadn’t picked up her phone, other than turning the sound off after the fifth text in five minutes.

She had trouble processing her emotions. Lena usually did, which resulted in some huge dramatic gesture like storming out of someone’s apartment. The thinking through came after. All she knew was that she was hurt. Furious. That Kara’s roommates were so familiar with the history of Kara’s sex life. That Kara obviously enjoyed fucking Lucy much more than she enjoyed fucking Lena. That Kara had a well-known history of having wild sex with someone that she claimed broke her heart, that she was over with. That maybe she wasn’t over with, because if she were, then wouldn’t she be having rowdy sex with Lena by now?

Mostly, Lena was angry because after all of this, she still wanted Kara. Lena had been horny since their first tutoring appointment and even after getting herself off every day, often more than once a day, she never quite felt satisfied.

Lena was just settling into the fifth chapter--the first major bump in the relationship in which one of the princesses revealed that she had been previously engaged--when there was a soft knock on her door. Reluctantly, Lena rose to answer it. It was probably one of her hallmates, most likely Jess, asking if she had a Swiffer. Standing there was a very relieved-looking Kara Danvers.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Lena said. 

Kara looked her straight in the eyes. “I’ve been knocking on every door in the whole dorm building because I’ve never been up to your room. Can you please just...talk to me?”

And Kara looked so hurt, so desperate for Lena to say yes, that Lena found herself sitting on her bed while Kara sat backwards on her desk chair. The blonde bit her lip before whispering, “This time, I don’t even know what I did wrong.”

 

Lena sighed before explaining James’ comment. Kara’s face reddened and then darkened, while the brunette replayed their conversation. “James had no right to say that,” Kara said, clearly upset. “I didn’t tell you this before because I didn’t think it was important, but I guess it’s still relevant to him. James was my ex before Lucy was.”

Lena tried to wrap her head around it. That Kara, Lucy, and James had all dated each other. She couldn’t imagine anything messier. “But it was true,” Lena said. “That you guys...you and Lucy…”

Kara looked at Lena with soft eyes. “Lucy and I were friends with benefits before we were girlfriends. So, yeah. There was...a lot of it.” She swallowed hard and looked down. “But I don’t want that with us. I mean, I’ve already told you a ton of times that I care about you, genuinely. Honestly, I have never felt like this with anyone, as cheesy as that sounds. Not with Lucy. And I don’t want my physical attraction to you to just be the selling point. I want you to actually like me back. As much as I like you. I’m just afraid of taking it to another level before I’m sure and you’re sure that you like me, really like me.”

“Kara, I like you too.” Lena blushed hard, thinking of how Kara said that she was attracted to Lena. Attracted. To Lena. “But I’m not just in it for the sex.”

All of the muscles in Kara’s body seemed to relax. “What are you in it for, then?” Kara smirked. She looked on the brink of shouting, gayy!

Lena’s mouth opened a little involuntarily. She had forgotten exactly how brazen and direct Kara could be. “You, know, the other stuff. The mushy kind.”

Kara struggled not to smile, but it peeked out at the corners of her eyes. “Lena Luthor, are you falling for me?”

The brunette blushed even harder. “I mean…” Luckily, she was saved by Kara climbing onto the bed and hugging her, holding onto her tight and wrapping her up in her arms.

“Lena. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Officially?”

“Sorry, will you officially be my girlfriend?”

“Officially, yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> i've written the second chapter, but i wanna stay on top of this fic so i won't post it for a few days :) lmk what you think


End file.
